Malazan Empire: Gwynn ap Nudd - Viewing Profile - Malazan Empire

Republicans always pretend to care about the debt when there is a Democratic president. That would be nothing new.

The bigger problem is that hiring personnel, building up institutional knowledge and expertise, and developing connections in branches that deal with foreign governments takes longer than four years. Especially with the US federal government now. There is no job security beyond a four year window. So attracting the best and brightest is less likely. Some agencies may be permanently crippled - which is what Republicans wanted.

E.g. the republican donor who owns either Acuweather or the weather network (I can't remember which) has been trying to get the government to stop providing forecasts for years. He wants the government to still collect the data, but then only sell it exclusively to his companies so they can make the forecasts and generate more profit. Now, the government does not have enough qualified people to make full forecasts everywhere. I won't be surprised to see Republicans start talking about privatizing weather forecasting once the government struggles to provide those services this year.

Its the standard ploy. Say government shouldn't be doing something and that the private sector could do it better, then defund the parts of government that provide the service to prove that the government can't do it right. Thus justifying privatizing it at more cost to the consumer and with more profits for large corporations.

Macros, on 12 June 2025 - 06:39 AM, said:

Oh hear ye Lord, let them praise those traitors to their country who lost a war so quickly and feebly.

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https://www.washingt...o-deportations/

Sorry for the paywall.

Combined with the lack of due process being given those "arrested" by ICE, that will about do it for tourism to the US from European countries (Canadian visits are way down). Though I hear that tourism from the Gulf States is up. Another nail in the coffin of US alliances as well.

Hopefully the protests in LA stay mostly peaceful. It is pretty obvious the publicized ICE raids and subsequent deployment of National Guards and Marines are intended to incite violent protests. Which can then be used to justify further escalation.

But then again, even if the protests are mostly peaceful, the administration will just lie about how much violence and looting there was and may escalate anyway. The whole National Guard thing is another instance where having to rely on the courts is idiocy. The law plainly states he can't do this. He does it anyway. Now someone has to file suit and then wait for a judge to say it was illegal. Which will be appealed etc. Meanwhile, the guards cause damage and unrest in LA.

 Abyss, on 30 April 2025 - 03:01 PM, said:

At least Quebec wouldn't be land locked.

Thanks for the recommendations. I will look a few of them up over the next couple days and let you know what I think once I have read a couple. I have read some/half of the Discworld books, Kings of the Wyld, A Crown for Cold Silver and the Craft Sequence.

I haven't looked into cozy fantasy at all, maybe I will.